Well, hello there. This is quite a feat, my first post since almost a year ago. Let me just update you a bit on what's happened since last summer:
*I went to both fall and winter semesters at UVU. It was fun, exciting, frustrating, infuriating, exhausting, titillating, and so many more emotions and feelings that could fill up a book, if I was able to remember it all and if I was proactive enough to write a book. Instead, I'll write a post on my blog about the past year and call it good.
Fall Semester 2010:
I had voice lessons, psychology, english, kickboxing, and Fundamentals of Acting I. My english class was the hardest one for me. It was still good and I passed the course with a B+ or even an A- (have to double check on that). But I felt that my professor didn't like me so much. She never made any ostentatious gestures that made me know she didn't like me, I just had a feeling about it. But the class was fun anyway.
3. However, English paled in comparison to my other awesome classes, such as:
a. Kickboxing! Which was AWESOME! and, yes, all the caps and exclamations are a need. I had so much fun in this class. Coach Pease is an awesome Coach. He was funny and made the atmosphere in class a welcoming and awesome environment. Plus the fact that I was required to kick, punch, elbow, knee, and all sorts of maneuvering was the best perk ever.
b. Voice lessons have been my saving grace many times over. I love taking lessons with Connie, she is so personable and knows what you need or don't need. Connie is GREAT! I really want to keep practicing with her but things are not at all in a good spot (which I'll tell you about later in future blog). I keep saying I'll start at the end of june for the 2nd term of classes, but it's June next week. And I still don't have a plan.... Anyway, this semester was lots of fun, at least what I can remember of it.
c. Fundamentals of Acting 1 was a lot of fun. I was a little weary about it on the first day and almost dropped out of it. But I persevered and stayed with it. And so glad I did because it was really a lot of fun. I think that our whole class really bonded and we were all friends instead of classmates.
Winter Semester 2011:
1. Great classes again, and I finally got up to 12 credits (i.e. Full time student!) So it was a busy year, but looking back on it, I loved that it was busy, it gave me structure, it pushed me in ways I wouldn't have by myself, challenged me in ways that I couldn't have done. I loved all my classes, English was probably on the lower spectrum but that doesn't mean I hated it, it's just that with my other classes, english wasn't up to their par. But Professor Kerby in ENGH 2010 was great, he was easy to talk to and made things personable which is really crucial (in my opinion) so students can feel more comfortable about asking the teacher for help or something. 2. Acting II and Voice and Diction were both great classes. They both really worked my self-esteem to the ground, but gave me tools on how to work it back up. These classes taught me that to be a performer you need to like your self (i.e. have confidence) and what you do, otherwise the audience will be able to detect the bad juju and not have a life-changing experience. But John Graham, the best Voice and Diction professor in the world! really helped build me up, even if it didn't last long. He preached to the class about how each and every one of us (me) deserves to be heard and have a voice. You might mess up but who cares? Learn from it and move on.
"You deserve to be on stage- You deserve to have a voice- You deserve to be heard." - John Graham
When John was saying all this in his leaving speech I wanted to cry. Because for the first time someone (outside the fam) really cared and believed that I could be greater than this. I just have to let it out.... Thank you, John Graham, I am surely going to miss you and I know many others will too.
3. I took voice and piano lessons both this past semester. It was awesome! It really opened up my eyes about how much I love the piano and how much I really want to be able to play it amazingly well; to rock people's world with my awesome-ness! Chad Schumacher was a fun and helpful teacher, but I felt he didn't push me hard enough. I'll have to fix that when I go back. And Connie Jensen is just so amazing with her voice and for all she does for the many numbers of students she has. She is so fun and makes me feel comfortable in our lessons together, she pushes me to get better and to perform so I will get better at that. Love you, Connie!
4. Kickboxing again this sememster, WHY? Because it's awesome! And I am so proud of myself because this semester I finally got a perfect score on the final test! WooHoo! So now I am completely certified and qualified to kick someone's ass. And believe me I want to. I secretly hope that I'll get jumped or mugged so I can kickbox these muggers world while I lay them flat on the ground before they realize that they just got their butts handed to them by a little girl! Haha! Oh what sweet justice that would be. Not to mention great writing material, even if it is just for a blog. :)
Kickboxing, eh?! Sounds fun! We'll have to spar when I come to town.
ReplyDeleteLove your post, Diana! It sounds like you took UVU by storm. Looking forward to a performance. It was great to hear your piano playing at the house while we were there.
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